Canada's version of Jersey Shore proves it's no better than the rest of us

Canada has long passive-aggressively lorded its sense of superiority over America—sitting up there with a tolerant smile on its face, quietly working a jigsaw puzzle while the U.S. always works itself into a bother, like our nation’s gentle, friendly waving Presbyterian neighbor to the north. But that image is just an illusion, one that’s set to come crashing down with the release of the Toronto-based Lake Shore, which ups the ante on all those other Jersey Shoreknock-offs in development by not limiting itself to one group of embarrassing stereotypes but rather eight different kinds, all helpfully identified by “nicknames” such as “The Italian,” “The Turk,” “The Jew,” and “The Pole.” That way it’s extra sociological.

And tense! As you’ll discover from this “sizzle reel,” the group wastes no time in delineating the differences in their backgrounds and proudly reclaiming their hurtful racial undertones by way of empowerment (“The Italian” wears a hat that reads, “#1 Wop;” “The Vietnamese” girl says her name is “Annie Mei,” because she is “cartoon-y”), then using them to shit all over each other once things stop being polite and start getting drunk-assholes-on-TV, which happens approximately one hour after moving in together. (The inarguable highlight: “The Turk” avowing that she’s not a racist because she “hates everyone equally—especially Jewish people.”) Anyway, welcome to our mutual gutter, Canada. Shots!